The Moving Finger writes; and having writ,
Moves on ...
So spoke Fitzgerald's Persian bard,
And the people of Victoria heard him and sighed,
And thought unto themselves “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,”
And turned again to contemplate, now sad, their railway timetables.
Alan Jacobs, First Things, November 2007
Saturday, August 06, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
We are Always Resolving to Live
"'We are always resolving to live, and yet never set about life in good earnest.' Archimedes was not singular in his fate; but a great part of mankind die unexpectedly, while they are poring upon the figures they have described in the sand."
Robert Leighton (1611-1684), quot in S.T. Coleridge, Aids to Reflection (1825)
Robert Leighton (1611-1684), quot in S.T. Coleridge, Aids to Reflection (1825)
Sunday, July 03, 2011
The Port to Which He is Bound
"But to him that knoweth not the port to which he is bound, no wind can be favourable; neither can he who has not yet determined at what mark he is to shoot, direct his arrow aright."
Robert Leighton (1611-1684), quot in S.T. Coleridge, Aids to Reflection (1825)
Robert Leighton (1611-1684), quot in S.T. Coleridge, Aids to Reflection (1825)
Saturday, July 02, 2011
Divide in Order to Distinguish
"It is a dull and obtuse mind, that must divide in order to distinguish; but it is a still worse, that distinguishes in order to divide. In the former, we may contemplate the source of superstition and idolatry; in the latter, of schism, heresy, and a seditious and sectarian spirit."
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Aids to Reflection aphorism XXVI
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Aids to Reflection aphorism XXVI
Monday, March 21, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Outsiders in Their Own Lives
Learning the language of a country, one does not cease to be an outsider. One simply becomes a different sort of outsider. Some people are outsiders to their own lives.
N.N. Scott
N.N. Scott
Saturday, March 05, 2011
A Struggle for Power
Societies begin and grow in many ways but they only end in one: a struggle for power.
N.N. Scott
N.N. Scott
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Value of Things
Most people are shallow; they have no idea how to value things. If they get something for a low price, they will not value it even if it is something worthy of care. Therefore do not undervalue yourself, in your own eyes or the eyes of others. The world will not reward you for it.
N.N. Scott
N.N. Scott
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Teaching the Faith
Anyone who sincerely, passionately believes in something, whose face is lit up with it so that others notice and react whether they wish to or not, is teaching his faith -- whatever that faith is -- and will suffer the consequences.
N.N. Scott
N.N. Scott
The Two Responsibilities
To feel distress at one's own inadequacy, and endeavor to do something about it, is a form of knowing and worshiping the Creator, which are the only two responsibilities of a human being.
N.N. Scott
N.N. Scott
Bearing the Load
Those who care about their work, and make every effort to do it well, usually bear the load of at least one or two, and sometimes a great many others, who do not.
N.N. Scott
N.N. Scott
A Supplication for Foriveness
To feel distress over one's inadequacy, without taking some kind of action to make up the deficiency, accomplishes no more than a supplication for forgiveness addressed to a nonentity.
N.N. Scott
N.N. Scott
What Work We are Doing
Most of us would agree that it is better to do our work well, than poorly -- but most of us actually know little about what work we are actually doing.
N.N. Scott
N.N. Scott